$5 a day 2008 fruits and vegetables
By Dr. Mercola While food assistance varies from state to state, a typical family using the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ( SNAP the official name for food stamps, will have about .37 per person, per day, with which to buy food.1 Many families run out of food stamps after the first two weeks of the month and rely on food banks to fill in the gaps. On a budget this tight, fruits and vegetables are often purchased only if there's money to spare, and often there isn't. In the documentary film Food Stamped, in which the filmmakers attempt to eat a healthy diet on a food-stamp budget, they visit food stamp enrollment clinics and tag along with low-income shoppers who tend to opt for the cheapest, most filling foods, such as white bread, factory-farmed ground beef, and ramen noodles. In interviews with members of Congress who also took the food stamp challenge, even the elected officials – when forced to eat on meager budgets themselves – likewise fell prey to the allure of cheap convenience foods. But while cost is one of the most often-cited obstacles to eating a healthy diet, there are low-cost superfoods available that contribute priceless benefits to your health. Further, research from the Harvard School of Public Health ( HSPH) found that eating a healthy diet costs only .50 more per day Healthiest Diets Cost About .50 More a Day Than Least Healthy Diets Researchers from HSPH conducted a meta-analysis of 27 studies, evaluating the differences in prices per serving and prices per calorie for different types of food. Eating a healthier diet (defined as rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, and nuts) was found to be significantly more expensive than an unhealthy diet (rich in processed foods, meats, and refined grains). However, the difference between buying food for the most healthy diet pattern or the least healthy diet pattern came out to about .50 per.
My friend (and past inspirational interviewee!) Natala, created a challenge on her blog, Vegan Hope, to spread poverty awareness and show that you can eat well (and vegan!) on the smallest budget. I was moved and inspired by the challenge and decided to participate for a week. I also wanted to see if eating on a week was possible here in NYC where a carton of soymilk costs .59. That's right - per person (the U. S. food stamp budget) and only using equipment that costs or less. Since I planned to use spices I already had on hand, I reduced my weekly budget to and then I reduced it again to knowing I'd use a tablespoon of flour, a teaspoon of cocoa, etc. here and there. That left me with for the week - a little more than /day. seemed doable but seemed down right impossible. but, I'll risk it all and tell you right here: I did it. The first thing I realized was that I couldn't just go to one store and get everything I needed. Normally I just buy what I need, regardless of whether it's a dollar or so cheaper somewhere else. I figure, the isn't worth my time. but on this budget? I had to price items, look at sales, check for coupons online and go to five (five!) different places to get my groceries because pennies mattered. I also realized some 'staples' I'd come to love were convenience foods - like soy milk. I could make my own rice milk (a recipe in my upcoming cookbook!) for less than a quarter, which saved me .34! I also had to skip over (convenience) canned beans (.39-.29/can) and buy dry, which was only .00 for a rather big bag. Organic was out, too - but fresh was still in. These produce carts are all over New York City and while you're never quite sure where the produce comes from (local? California? Mexico?) you can bet it's not organic. Still, fresh fruit is fresh fruit so I kept the dirty dozen in mind (sorry.
Feeding a family on a budget of per person per day may seem completely crazy, but for low-income families, that a reality they deal with on a daily basis. For those who get nutrition assistance from SNAP ( Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program stretching the food budget as much as humanly possible is absolutely critical. Considering that the maximum monthly allotment for a family of 4 is 2, which ends up being about per day per person, a lot of time and energy has to go into turning that money into meals. A little while ago, the Mid Ohio Foodbank completed a SNAP challenge and attempted to live while eating on a /week budget for a whole week. Their findings and reflections are definitely worth checking out. Have you ever, by choose or otherwise, tried eating on a budget of per day? We’d be very interested to hear about your experiences in the comments section below! Check out some tips that could help you stretch your food budget to its limits.
Persons can eat a healthy vegan diet for less than a day. In many cases the foods that are best for our health are much cheaper than junk food. Food is perhaps the most important item in the typical person’s budget. We all eat, don’t we? But most of us can substantially reduce the amount of money we spend on food. Below I list some steps that can help most reduce their food budget substantially 1) The first step in cutting food costs is to reduce or eliminate eating at restaurants. Restaurant food is typically much more expensive than food bought at a grocery and often loaded with additives you don’t want.(2) Second, substitute beans for your meat purchases. Pinto beans and whole grain cornbread provide an excellent source of protein and amino acids. Purchase numerous other beans to add variety – great northern beans, black beans, kidney beans, red beans, cranberry beans, lima beans, navy beans, etc.(3) Third, eat a variety of whole grains instead of refined white flour products. Whole grain cornmeal, whole grain wheat flour, whole grain brown rice, and numerous other grains are available at economical prices. My favorites include white whole wheat flour and whole grain yellow cornmeal.(4) Fourth, nuts and seeds provide nutritional value and cholesterol free fat that is good fat compared to the saturated fat in meat. A serving or two of peanuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, or other types of nuts daily is a good part of a well-balanced diet.(5) Fifth, on a per serving basis even fresh fruits and vegetables are not too expensive. Fresh fruits can average less than 40 cents per serving, and vegetables can average less than 20 cents per serving. Therefore, less than .50 per day can pay for a person’s daily allotment of fruits and vegetables. Bananas are often the cheapest fruit. For example, if it takes 2 ½ bananas to weigh a pound, at 55 cents per pound.